Shopping in Paraguay

Last week I showed you pictures of our activities on our Paraguayvacation and aside from eating, sight-seeing, visiting with family and relaxing by the pool we also went SHOPPING! Today I am sharing a short, fun post on the items we brought home from Paraguay.

We left with just one small carry-on suitcase fully intending to continue our minimalist traveling philosophy. However, Konrad’s cousin convinced us to take one of their (small) suitcases to bring home gifts and souvenirs.

Now you should know that for us the best gifts and souvenirs are edible. Because, well they taste awesome – you get to enjoy them while they last and then aren’t left with any clutter afterwards.

I already introduced you to these 2 South American products with theserecipes. Dulce de Leche is fairly known in North America as well. The container we purchased was produced by the Cooperative in the Gran Chaco. Maybe even from the dairy cows we visited?

Re-entering Canada we declared the dulce as a ‘dairy product’ to which some import restrictions apply. But the customs officer explained, “Dairy with sugar…erhh or should I say… sugar with dairy is no problem”. 🙂

Another common sweet spread in South America is guava jam. It is made from pink guavas and tastes wonderfully aromatic. Nothing like the green, rock-hard guavas we can sometimes buy in the supermarkets here.

Two more agricultural products from the Cooperative that we brought home were manioc meal and sesame seeds. I already used some of the sesame to make granola.

But the manioc meal completely puzzles me. It is made from the cassava root. Super-finely ground we know it as tapioca starch here. Konrad grew up sprinkling the manioc meal over pretty much any food. And unless I learn of any other use for it that’s all we (he) will use it for.

Strolling the store aisles this pasta somehow caught my eye. I thought they were egg noddles judging by the colour. But later at home I figured that it prominently says ‘no cholesterol’ on the packaging…duh.

Nonetheless the little noodles look and taste great in the few meals I have cooked with them so far.

These are some of Konrad’s favorite chocolate candies to date. What a lot of these chocolates have in common is a wafer shell with different filling and a chocolate coating on the outside. A little bit like Ferrero Rocher.

Another childhood memory for Konrad were these mints. But we couldn’t buy just a few packages to relive that memory. Nope – the only way we could get them was this huge wholesale sized box.

We have shared them with every relative living in close proximity and still we probably have enough for the next year. Well, I have always liked mints as breath fresheners better than gum anyway 😉